The legend goes that after the August 7, 1970 concert at the Goose Lake Festival in Michigan, The Stooges were on the verge of collapse. The story is that Iggy Pop was furious at bassist Dave Alexander during the gig, and that the entire set had been chaos and not the good kind of chaos. Well, that seems to have been one of those stories that's not quite rooted in fact. With the release of the new live album, Live at Goose Lake: August 8, 1970, Third Man Records are setting things right.
This soundboard recording provides proof that The Stooges, then fresh from the release of the Fun House album, were a machine. The bits here that are ragged are still things that fuel the soul, with the performance of all the players here, captured in these grooves, incendiary. "Loose" throbs and churns, Ron Asheton (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums) laying the foundations here for nearly every punk band that would follow this for the next 50 years, while "1970 (I Feel Alright)" is a fiery racket. If this number, and a lengthy run at "Fun House" are ramshackle, the sound of the wheels coming off as the car coasts on the rims across the pavement, "T.V. Eye", as always, inspires and sets the spine on fire. Iggy Pop yelps like a madman here, yeah, but he's also a supremely focused front-man, snarling the lyrics over the riffs like no other singer in that era.
With liner notes from Jaan Uhelzski of Creem Magazine, Live at Goose Lake: August 8, 1970 on Third Man Records is an essential education about the seminal band's wildest era. For an act that were rightly seen as a bunch of wild freaks, The Stooges remained a formidable live act. And what this set reveals is just how much they could accomplish with the simplest of chords, the most basic of beats, and the hardest of riffs. This is primitive stuff, yes, but it's the sound of exactly what rock-and-roll is meant to be.
Live at Goose Lake: August 8, 1970 is out on Third Man Records.
More details on Iggy Pop via the official website.
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